What the future may hold in store
by Sabine
Summary: A day in the life of the Crichton family. Takes place six years after season 2.


Title:What the future may hold in store…

Author: Sabine

Rating: PG

Spoilers: all the way up to Liars, Guns & Money, Part One.

Summary: A day in the life of the Crichton family.

Notes: This story takes place 6 years in the future from season 2.

Disclaimer:I don't own any of the Farscape characters. All Farscape characters, names and situations are trademarks of Jim Henson Company, Hallmark Entertainment, Nine Network Australia, and the Scifi channel © 1999 & 2000.   
  


* * *

He held his breath as he heard the sounds of the footsteps growing louder and louder by the microt. She wasn't going to find him. He had made sure of that. His dark blue eyes remained focussed at the door opening, awaiting the arrival of the one who was searching for him. 

" Come out, come out wherever you are… I know you're somewhere in here. You can't escape me. You do realize that, don't you? And you certainly know what I'm going to do to you when I get my hands on you," a female voice spoke out loud, hinting on what was to come.

He watched her enter the large chamber from the safety of his hiding place. Her eyes were searching the room inch by inch; to make sure that absolutely nothing eluded her. She checked the surroundings carefully; walking passed almost every item that was stored in the place. Coming up empty handed she quickly left, the disappointment was clearly written all over her face. 

He heard the footsteps slowly dissipating and decided to take the chance. Slowly and as quietly as he possibly could, he crawled out of his temporary safe haven. Somewhat relieved he got up on his feet and made his way towards the exit of the chamber. He listened to hear if she had really left or not, but he could not hear a single thing except for the soft melodic humming of the ship. No footsteps, no voice, no nothing. Just the humming.

" Gotcha!!"

A pair of hands grabbed him by the shoulders from behind. He should have expected this to happen, since it always seemed to go down this way.

" Noooooo…" he screamed, trying free himself from her hold. 

" Gotcha, little one! Guess what I'm gonna do to you right about now?"

" Noooo…auntie Chiana. Don't…please?" he turned his head to look over his shoulder and up at her, giving her the puppy dog eyes look. It had gotten him out of trouble before, so he might as well try to see if it would help him out again.

Chiana looked down into those blue eyes, which obviously were pleading for her not to go ahead with what she had planned. She shook her head and laughed. " Not this time, champ," she stated with a grin as she started to tickle him. Shortly after that a giggle escaped his throat, even though he had tried his best to prevent it.

" Do you give up?" 

"Yes, auntie Chiana. I give up," he replied laughing, dropping down on his knees. Chiana couldn't help but ruffle his jet-black hair, which led to receiving an indignant look from him. The Nebari smiled as she got down on her knees and pulled him into a hug. Chiana loved the four-year-old boy dearly. He had inherited the best qualities of both his father and mother. Not that he actually knew or realized it; nobody knew his or her potential at that age. She was looking forward to watching him grow up. To watch him enter into the world of adulthood, but the latter would still take some time. To make matters worse…the universe was a dangerous place to live in and fortunately for him; he was absolutely unaware of that little fact. 

She tugged a strand of his hair behind his ear and planted a kiss on his forehead. She took hold of his little hand and helped him get up from the floor. Impatiently he started to tug at her sleeve, indicating that he wanted to do something and go somewhere else. " What is it, Benny boy?" she curiously asked him. 

A grin appeared on his face, reminding her of his father. She immediately knew he was up to something and she had a pretty good idea to where this was heading.

"Catch me if you can!" he shouted as he sprinted out of the chamber. 

"Watch me!" she countered, running after him. One thing was for sure; life wouldn't be boring when Benjamin was awake. He made life a lot more interesting and made sure that working out was unnecessary for her as long as she was babysitting him.

Unknown to Chiana Aeryn, D'Argo, Jothee and Rygel had returned from their supply run, which hadn't exactly gone as they had initially had in mind.

* * *

The Centre Chamber: 

John stood with his back turned towards the entrance. His mind was elsewhere. Aeryn and the others had just returned from their supply run and she hadn't contacted him yet or looked him up. It could simply be that she wanted to finish unloading the cargo and that he was worried about nothing, but his gut feeling told him that something had gone wrong. 

" John…" Zhaan spoke over the comm.

Oh my God…this can't be good John thought, slowly starting to panic as he realized that the reason behind his fears might have been justified. Why else would Zhaan comm me? 

" John, you'd better come over here. It's Aeryn…" Zhaan did not even have to finish what she wanted to say, because as soon as she had spoken John had already bolted out of the room and was on his way to the medical facility aboard Moya.

* * *

John & Aeryn's quarters:

Chiana silently observed Benjamin sitting on the floor and playing with his toys. John had carved some kind of vehicles called cars for him, which the child loved to play with. When John had shown them to her before giving the tiny cars to Ben for his fourth birthday, a couple of weekens ago, he told her that Humans used them as a form of transportation. She had thought it to be a crude, primitive and polluting vehicle. If the Humans knew what kind of effect a car would have on their environment, shouldn't they stop using them and find another form of transportation? She had asked that same question to John and he had replied with a sad smile, saying that they were already trying to invent alternatives and solve the environmental problems they were having. 

Chiana had fond memories of Ben's birthday party. Everyone had been happy and cheerful, temporarily forgetting the constant danger they were in. They had continued talking and celebrating long after Ben had been put to bed. The birthday party had been the first time in a long while where they had gotten the chance to relax and rewind a bit. 

A smile appeared on her face as she saw Ben grabbing another toy out of his toy box. There was only one toy Benjamin was fonder off than the cars and that was the model of a Peacekeeper prowler, much like the one his mother once had several cycles ago. She listened to what he was saying, whilst moving about and playing with his other toys. He sure didn't have a lack of imagination she thought as she watched the prowler soaring through the air and attack one of the little cars on the floor.

Prowlers had always fascinated Ben and when he first started talking he was able to voice that fascination out loud. When asked about what he wanted to be when he was all grown up, he'd always answer with 'prowler pilot'. Aeryn had smiled when her son had told her, but didn't neglect to tell him that flying was a very dangerous thing to do. Soon after that she had dryly added that he couldn't be as worse a student as his father was when she tried to teach him how to fly. John had rolled his eyes and told his son that his mother had a habit of exaggerating things. He had merely picked things up a little slower than Aeryn would have liked him to and had quickly kissed Aeryn before she was able to utter another word to correct him.

She was brought from walking down memory lane and back to reality when her comm beeped.

" Chiana?"

" Yes Zhaan?"

" Could you look after Ben a little while longer?"

" Of course, no problem. Why Zhaan? Has something happened?"

"Aeryn has been seriously wounded while she and the others were bartering on the that commerce planet."

" Will…will she be alright?" Chiana asked worried as her gaze settled on Benjamin, who had stopped playing with his toys, was now looking at her and frowning in a way his mother was known to be able to do. 

" It is still too soon to tell. I am still waiting for John to arrive, although I feel that he is going to arrive here shortly."

" Thanks Zhaan. I'll do my best," Chiana honestly replied as she walked over to Ben, picking him up from the floor. Blue eyes pierced into hers, reaching the deepest part of her soul. " Where are mommy and daddy?"

His simple question echoed in her head. She should have known that he would have picked up that something was wrong. Children were known to sense such things. Chiana strongly felt the urge to protect him and knew that she had to come up with something. She would tell him the truth later on. 

" Your mommy and daddy are busy at the moment, honey," she spoke with a smile. " They asked Zhaan to ask me to take you out for a bite to eat. So I guess that's what we'll have to do then…"

* * *

John ran towards the medical facility with an enormous speed. All kinds of thoughts raced through his mind, thoughts about his wife and his son. He prayed that the injuries wouldn't be severe and if they were; that Aeryn would pull through. She just had to. Aeryn was strong and stubborn. She wouldn't go down without a fight. He couldn't bear to tell their four-year-old son that his mother had died. Ben adored Aeryn. John could not even imagine how his son would react if his mom would die. Of course Ben wouldn't understand the seriousness of the situation and the exact meaning of the word 'death', because he was still very young.

He turned the corner and saw Jothee sitting against the wall next to the entrance of the medical chamber and Rygel hovered around on his little throne sled. Both men looked absentminded and stared at the wall opposite of them. 

Hearing John turning the corner, Jothee looked up at John and got up from the floor. "John…I am truly sorry. I …we should have done something to prevent it…but everything happened so fast." 

John didn't even react to Jothee's words and walked straight into the chamber. Jothee looked down at the ground and felt a little hand touch his shoulder. "It's not your fault Jothee. I am sure that Crichton heard what you said and appreciates it, but the most important thing on his mind now is his wife," Rygel tried to comfort and reassure the young Luxan-Sebacean hybrid. 

" Yeah…I know Rygel. I know. I would feel exactly the same way if I had a wife and she had been gravely wounded. I just hope that Aeryn will pull through…"

" As do I, Jothee. As do I."

* * * 

The medical facility:

As John entered the room, he immediately noticed the figure of Aeryn Sun laying in one of the beds. Zhaan and D'Argo seemed to be closely monitoring Aeryn's status as the two of them were standing at the left side of her bed. She looked pale…very pale. Her eyes were closed, but he could see her breathing. A sigh of relief escaped from him. She was still alive, but obviously fighting for her life.

" Zhaan…" he softly spoke, standing still at a distance of several meters from his wife's bed, unable to move closer. Zhaan and D'Argo turned around to face John and walked up to him. D'Argo reassuringly touched John's shoulder, nodded before exiting the room and leaving John with the Delvian priestess. "John…" Zhaan said as she embraced him. 

" How is she, Zhaan?"

" I will not lie to you, John. Aeryn is weak and she lost a lot of blood. Her condition is quite serious, but luckily she will survive."

"Thanks, Zhaan. Thank you for saving my wife's life. This means a lot to my son and me." Then it hit him. "Oh god…I totally forgot to ask Chiana if she could baby-sit Ben a bit longer, " he spoke, running his fingers through his hair. " Don't worry about your son, John. I already asked Chiana and I consider him to be quite safe in her hands," Zhaan replied with a warm smile.

" John…" a weak voice managed to bring out.

Aeryn Crichton-Sun had opened her eyes as soon as she had heard John's voice and listened to the conversation between Zhaan and her husband, without giving away that she was awake. It allowed her to find out how she was actually doing and she knew that Zhaan would tell John the truth about her condition. 

" Go to your wife, John. She needs you. I will return later," Zhaan whispered as she headed for the exit. John smiled when he realized that Aeryn had awoken. He quickly moved towards, coming to a halt beside her bed. " Hey sunshine. Managed to get yourself into trouble again, huh?" John grinned, gently stroking a couple of strands of black hair away and gave her a kiss on top of her head. 

" Not funny, Crichton," she whispered, unable to resist the temptation to smile. Aeryn was glad that Zhaan had administered a dose of painkillers to her or else everything would probably hurt like hell. " Zhaan told me that you'd be alright, honey. You'll probably be up on your feet again soon. Give or take a couple of days of course," John told her, taking her hands into his and gently squeezing them.

Aeryn started coughing and tried to reach for the jug filled with water. " Let me do that Aeryn. You should only be concentrating on getting better and besides…isn't it the job of the husband to take care of his ailing wife?" John teased as he poured water into a glass. " You seem to like that, don't you John," Aeryn dryly noted, sipping some water from the glass John was helping her to drink from. 

" Now that's a good girl," he chuckled after she had finished drinking all of the water. Aeryn rolled her eyes in response to his remark. All of a sudden the expression on her face turned to a serious one.

" Where's Ben?"

" Don't worry, Aeryn. Pip's looking after him and you know the way she feels about him. He couldn't be in more capable hands than hers."

" Who would have thought we'd ever say that about Chiana. Entrusting Chiana with our son's well-being," Aeryn spoke amused. " Yeah…who would've thought," John grinned as he bowed his head and his lips made contact with hers. 

" You should rest, Aeryn."

"No…" she stated, shaking her head.

"No? Hmmm…now why could that be? Could it have something to do with a certain little boy called Ben? I guess that means that I'll just have to get him up here, in order to get you to rest a bit."

"Thanks", Aeryn muttered gratefully. 

" No problem, princess," he whispered as he kissed her again.

* * *

The Centre Chamber:

" You should eat, Ben…" Chiana spoke concerned, pouring something to drink into a cup for him. The child didn't react and started playing around with his food cubes so that they formed some sort of face. She recognized it. John had called it a smiley face, but this particular face wasn't smiling. " Ben…you really should eat something. At least take a bite from one of the food cubes…"

" No…" he replied, keeping his eyes locked on the food cubes.

" Why not?"

" Don't want to. I wanna see my mommy and daddy." Ben looked up at the Nebari and took a bite out of one of the food cubes. "Please auntie Chiana. Can I see my mommy and daddy?" It really hurt Chiana to see Ben this way, but she couldn't take him to John and Aeryn unless Aeryn was going to be all right. She prayed that her friend would survive the whole ordeal, because she knew that John and Ben could not bear to live without her.

" Hello little one…"

Ben turned around, a big smile plastered on his face as he recognized the voice. "Auntie Zhaan!!" he exclaimed as he ran up to her and gave her a hug. Chiana got up from her chair and joined Ben and Zhaan. The Delvian got down on her knees and cupped Ben's face. " Your parents want to see you, Ben." 

The boy's eyes began to sparkle brightly. " Where are they auntie, Zhaan?" 

" Chiana will bring you to them, child," Zhaan smiled, looking Chiana in her eyes. The Nebari responded by nodding to her. " C'mon, let's get you to your parents, Benny-boy," Chiana spoke, pulling him up and letting him piggyback ride. " See ya later, Zhaan."

"Later, auntie Zhaan," Ben mimicked Chiana as they left the centre chamber.

* * * 

The medical facility:

John was sitting at the edge of Aeryn's bed, still carefully holding her hands. They were softly talking with one another. Aeryn had told him what had exactly happened on the commerce planet and he in turn had told her what their son had been up to while she had been away. The latter resulted in them laughing and thus caused some pain spasms for Aeryn. A reminder for them that the road to recovery was still a long one.

Shortly after having asked Zhaan if she could manage to get Ben to them, they had heard an exited little voice, which they immediately recognized as their son's. John had helped Aeryn to sit up straight, because she didn't want to let Ben notice how serious the situation actually was.

Soon after that the face of their son popped up from behind the entrance of the medical chamber. He remained there for a while, observing his parents with a frown. " Hey sport!" John smiled as he saw Ben standing at the entrance. He had expected his son to run to them, but instead Ben remained where he was.

" Benjamin David Crichton…would you come over here and give your mother a hug," Aeryn brought out with a warm smile, stretching out her arm and gesturing him to come over to John and her. A big smile appeared on their son's face as he ran towards them in his child-like enthiousiasm. 

John picked Ben up and sat him down onto the bed, so he could give his mother a hug. " I missed you, mommy," Ben whispered as he carefully gave her a hug and a kiss on her cheek, because he didn't want to hurt her. " Auntie Chiana told me you were hurt. Are you feeling any better now, mommy?" 

"Yes, Ben. I'm feeling much better now."

" Good," he replied with a grin. " I brought something to make you better, mommy." Ben reached for a pocket in his jacket and pulled out the little prowler model Aeryn had given him for his birthday. John and Aeryn both smiled, because they knew how much the prowler meant to their son. Ben and it had been inseparable since the day he had gotten it. 

"Thank you, Ben. I am sure that it will help me recover," she spoke as she kissed him on top of his head after having been handed the small model. 

"Speaking of recovery…you should be getting some rest, honey. And this little boy over here should get some sleep as well," John said as he pulled his son up in his arms. He gave Aeryn one last kiss, before leaving the chamber carrying his son in his arms. " Good night, sunshine. Say good night to mommy, Ben." 

" Good night mommy…" Ben yawned, letting his head rest on his dad's shoulder.

***

Several solar days later: 

Aeryn had been allowed to move back into her quarters after Zhaan had considered her to have recovered enough. This was her first night back since a stay of several days at the medical facility. 

John and Ben had surprised her by decorating their quarters and throwing a little welcome back party for just the three of them. Ben had proudly told her that he had helped John write the banner with 'welcome back' on it and had drawn a small figure on it that represented her. It had a lot of black hair and that was the only way she had been able to notice that it was her.

She had put Ben to bed together with John. They first had to tell him a story before he would go to sleep. After that John and her had gone to bed themselves, enjoying some quality time together that they had been lacking for a while.

It was now late at night and the both of them were both awake, unable to fall asleep. She heard soft footsteps coming from their son's room and heading in their direction. It wouldn't take him long to get to them. She looked over at John and realized he had also heard it. Aeryn and John were glad that they were wearing a sleeping attire.

" Mommy…daddy?" a small voice asked.

" What is it, honey?" Aeryn and John both returned with a concerned tone of voice. They watched their son come to halt at the foot of their bed. " Can't sleep. Can I stay here?"

" Sure, sport. Come on over here," John spoke, signing his son to climb onto the bed. Aeryn pulled the blanket back so that Ben could lay underneath it and next to his parents. The child snuggled closer to them and quickly fell asleep after that, leaving John and Aeryn to gaze at the product of their love, who was at that very moment quietly sleeping in between them. They kissed each other good night and fell asleep realizing that they were very lucky to be where they were now, especially for having overcome all of the obstacles thrown on their path.

-The End-


End file.
